Inside: Washrooms and Locker Rooms

Bathroom designs at high school will enhance safety

To accommodate students who don’t feel safe or comfortable using traditional school bathrooms, the Granite (Utah) district is installing alternative facilities in some of the bathrooms in two high schools under construction.

The district says each of the bathrooms with the new design at Skyline and Cyprus high schools will be designated for a specific gender—those on the main and third floors will be designated for female students and those on the second floor will be designated for male students. Traditional enclosed male and female restrooms will still be available on the same floors as these restrooms.

The alternative bathrooms will have two large entrances that lead to individual small rooms with toilets. Each room will have one toilet and floor-to-ceiling doors and walls, providing students more safety and privacy than traditional restroom stalls. The hand-washing area in these restrooms will be entirely open to the hallway so that staff can provide supervision and deter problems like vaping and harassment.

The district hopes the alternative bathrooms will discourage some of the problems schools have been seeing when students use bathrooms.

“In the last few years, we have seen an upsetting trend where many students do not feel safe or comfortable using traditional enclosed restroom facilities while at school for fear of cyber-bulling and harassment,” the district said on its Instagram page. “Despite banning cell phones, we are still seeing many instances of students being filmed while they are using the restroom and that content is posted on social media. We continually hear from students who are leaving the campus to go home to use the restroom.”

The district also noted that it has experienced an increase in vandalism because of “challenges” posted on social media (e.g., breaking mirrors, stealing soap dispensers, clogging toilets with toilet paper).

“Schools do not have the manpower to monitor every restroom at all times,” the district says. “With this design, school staff are able to better monitor the handwashing areas and reduce any disruptive, destructive and unsafe behaviors.”

Miami-Dade district intensifies anti-vaping efforts

The Miami-Dade County (Florida) district is installing vape sensors in the bathrooms of all its senior high schools as it steps up its efforts to combat vaping among students.

The district says the sensors are designed to detect the use of e-cigarettes in restrooms so that staff can intervene quickly and effectively to stop the vaping.

"Making sure our students are safe from the dangers of vaping in our schools is essential,” says Superintendent Jose L. Dotres. “This is yet another example of how student health and safety are our top priorities.”

The decision to broaden the use of vape detectors throughout Miami-Dade, the nation’s third-largest public school system with 337,000 students, follows the success of a pilot program that was carried out last year at nine high schools.

Miami-Dade also is continuing its comprehensive educational campaign to raise awareness among students, parents, and staff about the harmful effects of vaping. This includes emphasizing its effect on overall health beyond lung function, and the increased risk of addiction.

The district is encouraging parents to talk with their children about the risks associated with e-cigarettes and to collaborate with the school community to create a vape-free environment. School staff will receive ongoing training to identify vaping behaviors and intervene when necessary.

Enhancing locker room privacy

The University of California, Davis, has begun a $5.97 million renovation of the locker room facilities in its Activities and Recreation Center to provide users with greater privacy.

"Everyone will enjoy complete privacy when changing, showering, or using the restroom," UC Davis Campus Recreation says. "Changing outside private rooms is strictly prohibited."

The modernized locker room will have eight private changing rooms, four private ADA-accessible showers, and 21 private shower/changing rooms for a total of 33 private spaces with floor-to-ceiling doors for members to change their clothes. 

The project also includes the reconfiguration of the restroom area to install a four-stall men’s room, a four-stall women’s room and an eight-stall gender-inclusive room.

The university says the upgrades will enable the center staff to operate the facility more efficiently and provide timely responses to emergencies or first-aid needs. The updated space also will accommodate all disabilities and provide ample room for mobility.

The locker rooms are scheduled to reopen in September.